The Observer profile + Microbiology | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/series/observer-profile+science/microbiology
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Craig Venter: The dazzling showman of science | Tim Adamshttps://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2010/may/23/observer-profile-craig-venter
A maverick, headline-grabbing biologist with an ego the size of a planet or a brilliant researcher who has succeeded in creating life? A bit of both, actually<p>There is, appropriately enough, a biblical quality to Craig Venter's account of the genesis of his quest to create life "from scratch". He dates his mission to 1968 when he was working in the frontline medical corps of the US army in Vietnam during the Tet offensive. He had tried, and mostly failed, to save hundreds of men from dying – it was <em>M*A*S*H</em> without jokes – and he felt he'd had enough of the horror of life. A champion swimmer, he determined to swim out into the South China Sea and not swim back. In the beginning, then, this mythology goes, the biologist was in the middle of the ocean, "surrounded by venomous sea serpents", preparing to meet his genome. It took a shark circling to wake him out of this suicidal fantasy.</p><p>"For a moment," he wrote in his 2007 autobiography, "I was angry that the shark had disrupted my plan. Then I became consumed with fear. What the fuck was I doing? I wanted to live…" Venter struck out for shore, now miles behind him, and when he arrived there it was if he had been reborn, like Crusoe, into a new fate: "I lay on the sand, naked, for what felt like hours. I was exhausted and relieved. I wanted my life to mean something; I wanted to make a difference. I felt pure; I felt energised."</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2010/may/23/observer-profile-craig-venter">Continue reading...</a>ScienceCraig VenterGeneticsMicrobiologyBiochemistry and molecular biologyBiologySynthetic biologySat, 22 May 2010 23:06:48 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2010/may/23/observer-profile-craig-venterTim Adams2010-05-22T23:06:48Z